August 26, 2013 AT 1:00 pm

Laser-Cut Book Covers #backtoschool

By making a pattern of laser cuts in a flat piece of wood, you can easily create hinges, clamps, and other features. We made wooden booklets, each with a hinge and a notepad holder. The hinge can be fully bent in both directions repeatedly without breaking. How is that possible? First, wood has the strength to withstand repetitive bending and twisting. It won’t break as long as the stresses stay under a certain limit.

The trick to making the wood flexible is to break it up in a lot of small pieces that can all twist a little. All these tiny twists add up so you can bend the sheet without stressing the material too much.